Aubergine

Amelia Louise Bayman

2 months ago

This has to rank among one the top restaurants in South Africa in terms of a fine dining experience. For me the food ;combined with a very calm welcoming atmosphere and excellent professional yet personal service especially from the chef made this far more than a meal.It was a true “experience “.The wine enhances the food -the food the wine. The restaurant is quiet enough to be able hold an intimate conversation-to stop;pause ;appreciate and celebrate life &friendship and good food together. A very rare opportunity indeed👌🏻🙏🏻.

lilian thumecke

2 months ago

A Lunch Worth Travelling For As a fine dining chef myself, I don't give five stars lightly. Aubergine has consistently impressed me over many years, both for lunch and dinner. Chef Harald Bresselschmidt continues to deliver true fine dining with confidence, precision and beautifully balanced flavours. His food is elegant, timeless and driven by exceptional ingredients rather than passing trends. This latest visit was for lunch on the peaceful terrace, which is one of Cape Town's hidden gems. It's the perfect setting for a relaxed lunch, a special celebration or an important business meeting. I've also enjoyed many dinners here over the years, and the same exceptional standard, warm hospitality and outstanding wine selection make every visit special. If you're looking for one of Cape Town's finest dining experiences, whether for lunch or dinner, Aubergine is a restaurant I can recommend without hesitation.

Sarah Savić Kallesøe

3 months ago

I had the absolute pleasure of dining here in July 2026, on my own, purely for the joy of tasting good food and admiring the work that goes into it. What follows is not a professional critique but an unashamed, appreciative account of an evening I loved. Harald Bresselschmidt has been chef patron here since 1996, and you can feel it the moment you walk in. It's a small room, maybe thirty seats. The five courses tasting meny runs to R1,315, or R2,150 with the wine pairing. To start off, the off-menu amuse was a warm gingery dashi and one small crisp, panko-fried parcel finished with a rose petal. The first real course was a duo of yellow-fin and albacore tuna, laid out almost like two separate ideas rather than one dish. One side was two clean pink slices, barely touched, sea salt glinting on top. The other carried a dome of kelp dashi gel over shredded radicchio and spiced papaya, tasting more floral than fishy once the gel melted in. The kelp salad alongside was tangy enough to keep the plate from feeling flat. It came with a 2022 Intellego Chenin Blanc, sweet and sharp to start, staying touch acidic after the food. Then duck breast, cured before it was fried, which I suspect is the whole trick, the slices fanned over a rich brown sauce, deep rosy pink all the way through with a real bite to the seared edge. It sat on ginger-glazed Hokkaido squash with charred broccoli and tomatillo, paired with the Eenzaamheid Cinsaut, a lighter red with an odd, mead-like weight. Before tasting it, I thought it might be too light of a red to match duck, but it worked quite well. Black wildebeest was probably the most interesting thing I ate all night, mostly because I couldn't easily compare it to anything else. Thick, dark slices sat in a glossy reduction with charred baby leeks and fingerling potatoes. Earthier than beef, more complex, a little tougher, but tough in a way that asked you to slow down. The Bordeaux-style blend alongside, Idun's 2020 Chorégraphie, started light and dry and only opened up once it had that sauce to work with. And then the pierogi. Blue cheese pierogi, Cremonzola and Karoo Blue, folded into a golden crescent of pastry, served with a caramel-orange tuile shard and a scoop of blue cheese sorbet in pink foam with orange and beetroot. On its own the sorbet is almost too pungent. With the warm pastry it just clicks. This was my favourite course of the night by some distance. I was really surprised by the sorbet/cheese combination, but was completely sold on it. I would come back just for this dish alone. The Naudé Mourvèdre Natural Sweet tastes rather like a port and stood right up to the cheese. Dessert was a tropical gastrique, pineapple, loquat, yuzu, with lime cake and coconut, plated generously with pistachio, caramelised pineapple, and small gel dots. Genuinely no notes here. It's rare for a dessert not to oversweeten itself, but this one let the fruit speak. The Diemersdal Noble Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc poured alongside was, without question, the best wine of the night. The service was lovely throughout. Rodrigo, Juanita and Lubabalo all looked after me well. I had the pleasure to meet Chef Bresselschmidt and hear a bit more about his work, which was truly lovely. The crockery is all handmade Kleipots, which I loved, and the serviettes had a really nice textured feel. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I would absolutely come back. Thank you for a memorable evening!

DonDiego

8 months ago

Superb! Excelent restaurant with a very seasoned sommelier to make your experience even better pairing the perfect wine to each dish.

Guillaume Slama

a year ago

I visited this very pretty and cozy restaurant in September with my wife. It truly serves amazing food and wines. We opted for their degustation menu and loved every bit of it. That night, it featured salmon trout, quail, springbok, etc. A feast. The place was not very busy, which means the chef had a chance to come out and chat us up for a few minutes. The service was impeccable throughout the meal, and we let very happy. We shall return.